From Fantastic Wiki

Welcome to the Fantastic Contraption Wiki. Here we are building a large collection of information, techniques and guides for all things Fantastic Contraption. This website is a community effort, so we urge you to find an article (or create a new one) to enlarge and improve it with. Continue to read on to find out more.

Contents 1 General Rules 2 User Accounts 2.1 New Account Creation 2.2 Logging In 3 Wiki Pages 3.1 Main Page 3.1.1 Editing and Vandalism 3.2 Special Pages 3.3 User Pages 3.3.1 Personal Bios, Levels, and Designs 4 Project Pages 5 Help Pages 6 Article Layout 6.1 Structure of the article 6.1.1 Introductory material 6.1.2 Paragraphs 6.1.3 Headings 6.1.4 Images 6.2 Other Essential Elements 6.3 Size 6.4 Tone 6.5 Provide context for the reader 6.6 Evaluating context 6.7 State the obvious 6.8 Lead section 6.8.1 Opening paragraph 6.8.2 The rest of the opening paragraph 6.8.3 The rest of the lead section 6.9 Some Other Guidelines... 6.9.1 Use other languages sparingly 6.9.2 Use color sparingly 6.9.3 Be concise 6.9.4 Principle of least astonishment 6.9.5 Stay on topic 6.9.6 Pay attention to spelling 6.9.7 Make omissions explicit for other editors 7 Style Guide

[edit] General Rules

• Chill
• Do not spam
• Do not edit other's user pages unless you have permission
  • You may edit other users' talk pages though - that is what they are for
• Keep on topic (Fantastic Contraption)
• Don't edit anything unless you are sure that it will benefit the community
• Your designs, levels, and anything else about you go on your user page
• Don't create a separate page for you; keep it on your user page
• Don't flame, troll, or do anything else to another user that is unchill
• Have fun!

[edit] User Accounts

Remember that your Fantastic Contraption account in-game or for the forums is not the same as your wiki account.

You do not have to have an account to read the wiki, but if you do you can customise how it appears. You also do not have to have an account to edit the wiki; if you do not your IP (Internet Protocol) address is used instead. However it is recommended that you do make an account, especially if you plan to be a regular contributor.

[edit] New Account Creation

To create a new account, simply click the "log in/create account" link on the top right of the page.

Once on that page, simply press "Create an account".

Next, insert all of your personal information.

Congrats! You have signed up to the Fantastic Wiki!

[edit] Logging In

To log in, click on the "log in/create account" link on the top right of the page.

Next, insert your username and password in the appropriate fields.

After that, press "Log in".

Congrats! You have logged in to the Fantastic Wiki.

[edit] Wiki Pages

There are a variety of pages that comprise the Fantastic Contraption Wiki. Each page has its own special purpose or properties.

[edit] Main Page

The main page of the Fantastic Contraption Wiki is the first page that you see every time the Wiki is accessed. On the side of the main page, you can see a selection of guides that will help you with the Wiki or Fantastic Contraption itself and a "Did you know..." section.

[edit] Editing and Vandalism

The Main Page can only be edited by registered users. If you do not have a user account, you can only view the source code for the Main Page. Sometimes, the Main Page is vandalized. Luckily, this hasn't happened enough to the point of the page being locked. Please undo and report any vandalism that you see on the Main Page or on any other Wiki page.

If you want to tryout how an edit works, you can experiment in the sandbox.

[edit] Special Pages

Special pages are not editable by normal users but show very useful information regarding the wiki. An example of a special page is the "Recent changes" page.

[edit] User Pages

There are thousands (millions?) of users, designs, and levels. It is not viable for each one to have a main wiki page. Users, designs, or levels should only be given a main wiki page if they are notable in some way. Very few users are suitably notable, exceptions being folk such as Weasel and OfficiallyHaphazard who organize things.

[edit] Personal Bios, Levels, and Designs

If you want to wax lyrical about your exploits as a Contraptioneer, then do so on a User page rather than on a main wiki page. It then is possible to list your designs and levels in an ordered fashion, an improvement over the built in "My Designs" button.

[edit] Project Pages

Project pages are areas for users to make projects concerning the wiki or other Fantastic Contraption topics. Project pages are editable by any user just like normal pages, but they have the prefix "Fantastic Wiki:" attached to the page's title.

[edit] Help Pages

Help pages provide help to users with the wiki. For example, this page is a help page. This page helps new users get comfortable to the Fantastic Wiki and its community.

[edit] Article Layout

NOTE: This section of this article is based off of Wikipedia's Community Portal and has been adapted to fit the Fantastic Contraption Wiki.

This section of the Fantastic Wiki guide will help you in writing articles, new and old.

[edit] Structure of the article

Structure of every article is very important. Follow these guidelines for a good article structure.

[edit] Introductory material

Good articles start with a brief lead section introducing the topic. The lead section should come above the first header; it is almost never useful to add something like ==Introduction==. Sometimes, the first section after the lead is a broad summary of the topic, and is called "Overview", although more specific section titles and structures are generally preferred.

[edit] Paragraphs

Paragraphs should be short enough to be readable, but long enough to develop an idea. Overly long paragraphs should be split up, as long as the cousin paragraphs keep the idea in focus. One-sentence paragraphs are unusually emphatic, and should be used sparingly. Articles should rarely, if ever, consist solely of such paragraphs.

[edit] Headings

Headings help clarify articles and create a structure shown in the table of contents. Headers are hierarchical, so you should start with level 2 headers (==Header==) and follow it with lower levels: ===Subheader===, ====Subsubheader====, and so forth. Whether extensive subtopics should be kept on one page or moved to individual pages is a matter of personal judgment. See also below under #Summary style.

[edit] Images

If the article can be illustrated with pictures, find an appropriate place to position these images, where they relate closely to text they illustrate.

[edit] Other Essential Elements

[edit] Size

Articles themselves should be kept relatively short. Say what needs saying, but do not overdo it. Articles should aim to be less than 30KB worth of prose. When articles grow past this amount of readable text, they can be broken up into smaller articles to improve readability and ease of editing. The headed sub-section should be retained, with a concise version of what has been removed under an italicized header. Otherwise, context is lost and the general treatment suffers. Each article on a subtopic should be written as a stand-alone article—that is, it should have a lead section, headings, et cetera. When an article is long and has many sub articles, try to balance the main page. Do not put undue weight into one part of an article at the cost of other parts. In shorter articles, if one subtopic has much more text than another subtopic, that may be an indication that that subtopic should have its own page, with only a summary presented on the main page.

[edit] Tone

Fantastic Wiki articles, and other encyclopedic content, should be written in a formal tone. Standards for formal tone vary depending upon the subject matter. Articles should have a formal tone while remaining clear and understandable. Formal tone means that the article should not be written using unintelligible; it means that the English language should be used in a businesslike manner. Articles should not be written from a first or second person perspective. Articles written in this fashion are often deleted. Pronouns such as "I" and "we" imply a point-of-view inconsistent with. "You" or "your", perspective often appears in how-to instructions and is inappropriate. First and second person usage should be used only in articles in attributed direct quotations relevant to the article's subject. Gender-neutral pronouns should be used where the gender is not specific. Punctuation marks that appear in the article should be used only per generally accepted practice. Exclamation marks should be used only if they occur in direct quotations.

[edit] Provide context for the reader

Wikipedia is an international encyclopedia. People who read the Fantastic Contraption Wiki have different backgrounds, education and worldviews. Make your article accessible and understandable for as many readers as possible. Assume readers are reading the article to learn. It is possible that the reader knows nothing about the subject: the article needs to fully explain the subject.

[edit] Evaluating context

Here are some thought experiments to help you test whether you are setting enough context:

• Does the article make sense if the reader gets to it as a random page? (Special:Random)
• Imagine yourself as a layperson in another English-speaking country. Can you figure out what the article is about?
• Can people tell what the article is about if the first page is printed out and passed around?
• Would a reader want to follow some of the links?

[edit] State the obvious

State facts that may be obvious to you, but are not necessarily obvious to the reader. Usually, such a statement will be in the first sentence or two of the article. For example, consider this sentence:

• The Ford Thunderbird was conceived as a response to the Chevrolet Corvette and entered production for the 1955 model year.

Here no mention is made of the Ford Thunderbird's fundamental nature: it is an automobile. It assumes that the reader already knows this. An assumption that may not be correct, especially if the reader is not familiar with Ford or Chevrolet. Perhaps instead:

• The Ford Thunderbird is a automobile manufactured in the United States by the Ford Motor Company.

However, there is no need to go overboard. There is no need to explain a common word like "car". Repetition is usually unnecessary.

[edit] Lead section

[edit] Opening paragraph

Normally, the opening paragraph summarizes the most important points of the article. It should clearly explain the subject so that the reader is prepared for the greater level of detail that follows. If further introductory material is appropriate before the first section, it can be covered in subsequent paragraphs in the lead. Introductions to biographical articles commonly double as summaries, listing the best-known achievements of the subject. Because some readers will read only the opening of an article, the most vital information should be included.

[edit] The rest of the opening paragraph

Then proceed with a description. Remember, the basic significance of a topic may not be obvious to nonspecialist readers, even if they understand the basic characterization or definition. Tell them. For instance:

[edit] The rest of the lead section

If the article is long enough for the lead section to contain several paragraphs, then the first paragraph should be short and to the point, with a clear explanation of what the subject of the page is. The following paragraphs should give a summary of the article. They should provide an overview of the main points the article will make, summarizing the primary reasons the subject matter is interesting or notable, including its more important controversies, if there are any. The appropriate length of the lead section depends on the total length of the article. As a general guideline, the lead should be no longer than two or three paragraphs. The following specific rules have been proposed:

Article Length	Lead Length
Fewer than 15,000 characters	One or two paragraphs
15,000–30,000 characters	Two or three paragraphs
More than 30,000 characters	Three or four paragraphs

[edit] Some Other Guidelines...

[edit] Use other languages sparingly

It is fine to include foreign terms as extra information, but avoid writing articles that can only be understood if the reader understands the foreign terms. Non-English words in the English-language Fantastic Contraption Wiki should be written in italics. Non-English words should be used as titles for entries only as a last resort.

[edit] Use color sparingly

If possible, avoid presenting information with color only within the article's text and in tables. Color should only be used sparingly, as a secondary visual aid. Computers and browsers vary, and you cannot know how much color, if any, is visible on the recipient's machine. Too many colors on one page make them look cluttered. Specifically, use the color red only for alerts and warnings. Awareness of color should be allowed for low-vision viewers: poor lighting, color blindness, dark or overbright screens, and the wrong contrast/color settings on the display screen.

[edit] Be concise

Articles should use only necessary words. Reduce sentences to the essentials. Wordiness does not add credibility to Fantastic Contraption Wiki articles. Avoid temporary expressions like "due to the fact that" in place of "because", or "at the present time" for "currently".

[edit] Principle of least astonishment

When the principle of least astonishment is successfully employed, the information is apprehended by the reader without struggle. The average reader should not be shocked, surprised, or overwhelmingly confused by your article. As the writer, you should not use provocative language in descriptions or arguments. Instead, gently offer information by anticipating the reader's resistance to new ideas. Use consistent vocabulary in parts that are technical and difficult. You should plan your page structure and links so that everything appears reasonable and makes sense. If a link takes readers to somewhere other than where they thought it would, it should at least take them somewhere that makes sense. Similarly make sure that concepts that are being used to base further discussion on have already been defined, or linked to a proper article. Explain causes before consequences and make sure your logical sequence is clear and sound, especially to the layman.

[edit] Stay on topic

The most readable articles contain no irrelevant (nor only loosely relevant) information. While writing an article, you might find yourself digressing into a side subject. If you find yourself wandering off-topic, consider placing the additional information into a different article, where it will fit more closely with the topic. If you provide a link to the other article, readers who are interested in the side topic have the option of digging into it, but readers who are not interested will not be distracted by it.

[edit] Pay attention to spelling

Pay attention to spelling, particularly of new page names. Articles with good spelling and proper grammar will encourage further contributions of good content. Proper spelling of an article name will also make it easier for other authors to link their articles to your article. Sloppiness in one aspect of writing leads to sloppiness in others. Always do your best. It is not that big a deal, but why not have it right?

• Use free Internet dictionaries like Ask Oxford, Dictionary.com, Google Define and a spell checker such as SpellOnline.com or SpellCheck.net.
• Articles may also be spell-checked in a word processor before being saved. A free word processor may be obtained from OpenOffice.org.
• Some browsers, such as Mozilla Firefox, Konqueror or Safari, have the ability to highlight misspelled words in text boxes.

[edit] Make omissions explicit for other editors

Make omissions explicit when creating or editing an article. When writing an article, always aim for completeness. If for some reason you cannot cover a point that should be explained, make that omission explicit. You can do this either by leaving a note on the discussion page or by leaving HTML comments within the text and adding a notice to the bottom about the omissions. This has two purposes: it entices others to contribute, and it alerts non-experts that the article they are reading does not yet give the full story.

[edit] Style Guide

To view the style guide, go here.